“VICTORIA”
A NEW SERIES ABOUT THE MOST POWERFUL
WOMAN THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN
STARRING JENNA COLEMAN
Click Here
for a Preview of the Program
Available on DVD and Blu-ray from PBS
Distribution January 31st
Premieres on MASTERPIECE on Sunday, January 15th
(check local listings)
Arlington, Va.
– November 16, 2016 – PBS Distribution
announced today it will be releasing “MASTERPIECE:
VICTORIA” on DVD
and Blu-ray.
Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) stars as the
young Queen Victoria at
the outset of her epic reign, which set the
stage for an entire era that would be named in
her honor. Scripted by bestselling novelist
Daisy Goodwin (The Fortune Hunter) the
series follows Victoria
from her accession to the throne at age 18,
through her education in politics, courtship and
marriage, “VICTORIA”
paints a portrait of a monarch who
was raised to be the pawn of her powerful elders
but who wasted no time in showing the empire who
was in charge.
“VICTORIA”
will be available on DVD and Blu-ray January
31, 2017. The run time of the program is
approximately 480 minutes on 3 discs. The
DVD SRP is $49.99 and the Blu-ray SRP is
$59.99. The program will also be
available for digital download.
The stellar cast includes Rufus Sewell (The
Man in the High Castle) as Lord Melbourne,
the British prime minister who was
Victoria’s father figure
and intimate friend; Tom Hughes (Dancing on
the Edge) as the handsome, brilliant and
awkward Prince Albert, who stole
Victoria’s heart after a
rocky start; and Alex Jennings (Churchill’s
Secret) as Leopold I, King of Belgium,
Victoria and Albert’s
matchmaking uncle who had dreams of a dynasty
for his obscure royal line—which he amazingly
achieved.
Paul Rhys (Borgia) plays Sir John Conroy,
the rumored lover of Victoria’s
mother, the Duchess of Kent, a German princess
played by German actress Catherine H. Flemming.
Conroy pictures himself as the de facto ruler of
the realm—if only he can get the duchess
appointed regent for the immature queen. And
Peter Firth (South Riding) appears as
Victoria’s conniving
uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, who is convinced
that he rightfully belongs on the throne and
diligently conspires to get there.
In “VICTORIA,”
writer Daisy Goodwin imaginatively depicts what
it was like for an ill-educated, emotionally
deprived teenager to wake up one morning and
find that she is the most powerful woman in the
world.
That it happened at all was practically a
miracle. Victoria was
queen only by virtue of ill luck and unfruitful
marriages on the part of her uncles, who failed
to produce legitimate heirs to the crown.
Furthermore, her immediate predecessors were so
disliked as kings that the institution of the
monarchy seemed to be doomed. “VICTORIA”
charts how the new ruler rose to the
challenge and weathered a series of crises—some
of her own making—without ever losing her
youthful charm and innate sense of justice,
which made her popular with her subjects.
Goodwin has been careful to stay faithful to the
facts, while reading between the lines to fill
in the gaps where the early Victorians were
scrupulously silent. The result is a gripping
historical pageant that reveals a side of
Victoria that is at odds
with her later reputation for prudery and a high
moral tone. In other words,
Victoria was not a
Victorian as we use the term.
“She was very, very keen on sex,” says Goodwin,
adding, “with her husband. She had nine
children. She didn’t lie back and think of
England, at all!”
Victoria’s name is
another case of our inheriting the wrong idea.
There were so many Victorias named in tribute to
the queen, during and after her reign that it
comes as a surprise to learn that when she was
christened Alexandrina Victoria
at her birth, both names were practically made
up. Previous British queens were Jane, Mary,
Elizabeth, or Anne.
The regnal name by which a king or queen is to
be officially known is up to the sovereign. In
choosing to be called Queen
Victoria, could she have been signaling
that she would be a queen like no other?
“VICTORIA”
is a coproduction of Mammoth Screen and
MASTERPIECE. It is created and written by Daisy
Goodwin. The director is Tom Vaughn (He Knew
He Was Right). The directors are Sandra
Goldbacher and Olly Blackburn. The producer is
Paul Frift (Restless). The executive
producers are Dan McCulloch and Damien Timmer
for Mammoth Screen and Rebecca Eaton for
MASTERPIECE, presented by WGBH Boston. It is
distributed internationally by ITV Studios
Global Entertainment.
About MASTERPIECE
The top-rated primetime show on PBS, MASTERPIECE
is celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2016.
MASTERPIECE is presented on PBS by WGBH Boston.
Rebecca Eaton is executive producer. Funding for
the series is provided by Viking River Cruises
with additional support from public television
viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE
Trust. MASTERPIECE is known for presenting
iconic shows such as Upstairs Downstairs,
Prime Suspect, The Forsyte Saga,
Poldark, Sherlock and Downton
Abbey.
About WGBH
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public
broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS
content for TV and the Web, including
Frontline, Nova, American
Experience, Masterpiece, Antiques
Roadshow, Arthur, Curious George
and more than a dozen other prime-time,
lifestyle, and children’s series. WGBH also is a
major supplier of programming for public radio,
and oversees Public Radio International (PRI).
As a leader in educational multimedia for the
classroom, WGBH supplies content to PBS
LearningMedia, a national broadband service for
teachers and students. WGBH also is a pioneer in
technologies and services that make media
accessible to those with hearing or visual
impairments. WGBH has been recognized with
hundreds of honors. More info at
www.wgbh.org.
About Mammoth Screen
Mammoth Screen is one of the UK’s leading
production companies. Current productions
include Poldark II, based on the novels
by Winston Graham and adapted by Debbie
Horsfield, and The Witness for the
Prosecution, an adaptation by Sarah Phelps
of the Agatha Christie story, both for BBC ONE;
NW, adapted by Rachel Bennette from the
novel by Zadie Smith, and The City and the
City, adapted by Tony Grisoni from the novel
by China Miéville, both for BBC TWO;
Endeavour IV, the Inspector Morse prequel
series written by Russell Lewis and
Victoria, written by
Daisy Goodwin, both for ITV, and Agatha
Raisin, based on novels by MC Beaton and
adapted by Stewart Harcourt for Sky One.
About ITV Studios Global Entertainment
ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) is
one of the world’s leading international TV
distribution, home entertainment, publishing,
merchandising and licensing businesses. ITVS GE
distributes celebrated content across all genres
from both its in-house production business, ITV
Studios, and in collaboration with leading
producers from around the world. Part of ITV
PLC, which includes the UK’s largest commercial
broadcaster, ITV Studios Global Entertainment
has offices in London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles
and Sydney.
About PBS Distribution
PBS Distribution is the leading media
distributor for the public television community,
both domestically and internationally, extending
the reach of these programs beyond broadcast
while generating revenue for the public
television system, stations, and producers.
PBS Distribution offers a broad range of high
quality content in multiple formats including
DVD, Blu-ray, digital download, and digital
streaming. PBS International
offers factual content for broadcast, cable, and
satellite services internationally.
The PBS Distribution catalog includes
films from Ken Burns, documentaries from
award-winning series such as NOVA, FRONTLINE,
AMERICAN MASTERS, NATURE, and AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE, dramas from MASTERPIECE, as well as
films from independent producers and popular
children’s programming.
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